Hungary agrees to lift veto on Ukraine EU accession talks but defers final block to referendum

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Wednesday a comprehensive agreement with Ukraine on minority rights for ethnic Hungarians in the western Zakarpattia region, clearing the way for Budapest to support opening the first negotiating cluster in Ukraine's EU accession talks once the measures are written into Ukrainian law and reflected in its EU action plan. However, Magyar pledged that if Ukraine completes all 33 accession chapters within 10 to 15 years, Hungary will hold a legally binding national referendum on final admission, effectively relocating the veto to the end of the process. The deal also unlocks €16.4 billion in frozen EU funds for Hungary.

The agreement covers linguistic, educational, cultural and political rights of roughly 100,000 ethnic Hungarians in Zakarpattia. Magyar said Hungary will support opening the first negotiating cluster — covering rule of law, democratic institutions and fundamental rights — once the measures are legislated. "The Hungarian government will support the opening of the first negotiating cluster for Ukraine's accession," Magyar said. He declared he achieved what his predecessor Viktor Orbán "could not achieve in 10 years."

The agreement delivers the same 11-point list of demands Orbán presented to Ukraine, centered on restoring a fully parallel Hungarian-language education system in Zakarpattia from primary school to university. Hungarian analyst Dominik Héjj, writing in Interia, described the demand as an attempt to build a "parallel social order" inside the state.

Magyar has not reversed Orbán's Ukraine policy but cashed it in, pocketing the €16.4 billion in frozen EU funds and resetting relations with Brussels. Crucially, the veto on Ukraine's final accession did not disappear. Magyar announced that if Ukraine "manages to close all 33 accession chapters within 10 or 15 years, our country will hold a legally binding referendum on the issue." Completing EU accession requires roughly 150 unanimous Council decisions across the full process, meaning Hungary retains ample future veto points. Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union requires any accession treaty to be ratified by each member state according to its own constitutional requirements, making a national referendum immune to EU circumvention.

Hungarian opinion on Ukrainian accession remains divided. An independent Republikon Institute poll conducted before the April election found Hungarians split 47% in favor, 46% against. Only 15% of all respondents supported fast-tracked membership. Research by the European Council on Foreign Relations published in May found fewer than half of Magyar's Tisza voters backed restarting formal accession talks, with net opposition to sending military aid among Tisza voters at 57%.